Rationale—Why the Content and Skills?
"You've never seen anything like Persepolis. Marjane Satrapi may have given us a new genre." 3 —Gloria Steinem
As an English teacher, I hold on tightly to books that engage my students. I find there are certain texts that seem to speak to particular groups of students in both immediate and powerful ways on their own. Books that get students excited about discussing both inside and outside the classroom are the books I want to teach. After speaking with my English Department Chairperson, we decided to add a graphic novel to our curriculum. (In different accounts, Persepolis is referred to using different terms: i.e. "graphic novel," "memoir," etc. For the sake of clarity and consistency, I will refer to the text as a graphic-novel-memoir as New York Times writer Dave Itzcoff did in a 2009 article. 4) We chose Persepolis for many reasons. First, we do not have any books about the Middle East in our English department collection. In my ninth-grade class, we read several young-adult novels that my students find extremely enjoyable, such as The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez by Alan Sitomer and Copper Sun by Sharon Draper; but we were lacking a graphic novel. Second, I taught Persepolis once during my student-teaching experience and another time in a Freshmen English Recovery evening class. As I observed the students reading this book, I found that there was something unique about the ways in which they seemed to fluidly absorb the reading and easily engage in discussion of complex topics. Also, they were excited about learning about a culture that is so different from their own. After reflecting on the ways I have taught this book in the past, I realize I have been merely skimming the surface of what was possible with this text. Because the book is so engaging, the boundaries of learning can be pushed further.
The reading of this book will encourage critical discussion of religion, gender issues, politics, and culture in the classroom. During the unit, the students will become aware of Middle Eastern culture and modern politics, which most of them know little to nothing about. Most of my students know a lot about American and Hispanic culture; however, there is a deficit of knowledge when it comes to cultures outside of their own. Moreover, most everything the students know about the Middle East comes from a westernized perspective. The content of this unit seems a very appropriate way for my students to widen their cultural lens and global understanding. Students find this text relatable, even though most of them are learning about Middle Eastern culture for the first time. Students find the story relatable because they are struggling to figure out their world, just as Marjane, the main character, does. Students find this text engaging, not only because of the interesting storyline and the relatable main character, but also because of the medium the story is told through. Because the story is written as a graphic novel, the students must engage visually, a skill that comes naturally to them because of the visual world in which they have grown up. I've never explicitly focused on visual literacy in the classroom. Teaching a graphic novel, such as Persepolis, will help develop this skill and encourage discussion.
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